August 12, 2017

If you’ve heard that your dental health is correlated with your sleep, you’ve heard right! If you’re having issues with either or several of these aspects of your health, your dentist in Highland village can help you understand how dental health is connected to your sleep and a few tips to optimize your health.

Sleep and Your Dental Health

Everyone knows how great it feels to get a good night’s rest. It allows our brains—an amazing machine that keeps our body functioning properly—time to rest and recharge for the day that lies ahead. Resting is critical to your health! When patients are experiencing problems getting the full amount of rest their body needs, they can experience memory problems, immune system issues, and we experience fatigue or even inflammation in the body.

When you don’t get enough sleep your mood and even dental health can be affected. Literally, your brain won’t signal enough hormones to be produced to adjust your mood and you can begin to experience unnecessary stress. You may start noticing a habit of bruxism (teeth grinding).

Here’s the Secret to Better Teeth and Better Sleep

What’s more frustrating than waking up in the dead middle of the night from a great deep sleep? It’s one of the worst things to experience, especially when you can’t fall back asleep.

One of the secrets to an undistributed night could be as simple as brushing your teeth in the dark! That’s right, your body is accustomed to “waking up” to the light. Instead of brushing with the bright fluorescent lights on right before you plan on resting, keep your body in a relaxed state.

Humans are trained to respond to natural light levels, telling us whether to wake up and wind down. Instead of boosting your alert system, keep your bathroom dark and the transition to your bed also dark.

Here Are Some Other Dental Hygiene Tips for Better Dental Health at Night:

Avoid spicy food in the evening

Spicy food is a common cause of heartburn that can make laying down seem practically impossible. The pain of the acid and inability to lay down can greatly inhibit your ability to fall asleep.

Avoid alcohol before you go to bed

It’s common to hear of patients relaxing before bed with a drink or two. Believe it or not, studies have shown that alcohol causes you to sleep less deeply and awake more frequently. You may experience night sweats, headaches, or nightmares when consuming alcohol too close to bedtime.

Avoid caffeine and nicotine

Both caffeine and nicotine are stimulants, which means it is their job to inhibit sleep. Consuming either substance too close to bedtime will interfere with your sleep cycle.

Meet the Dentist

Dr. Thomas believes in coming honesty with excellent dentistry. This means he takes pride in being upfront with patients, only telling them factual information that will help them reach their optimal oral health. If you have any questions about how to reach your best oral health, feel free to call our Highland Village dental office to speak with Dr. Thomas.